Kansas State vs Creighton: NCAA Tournament Open Game Thread

It’s finally time. If you don’t remember, this is what it’s like to actually make the NCAA Tournament and your first game is in the first round, not the play-in game. So here we are, time for your Kansas State Wildcats to face the Fighting Marcus Fosters Creighton Bluejays.

And there has been plenty of talk about this game, so we won’t get too crazy here. Here at BotC, TB popped in with a game preview early this morning and AMS dropped in this afternoon with some good-natured trash talk.

Basically, there’s been a ton of talk about former Wildcat Marcus Foster, and not a whole lot else about the rest of the Bluejays. And for the current Wildcats, a bunch of speculation and worry about Dean Wade and his foot.

If the Wildcats play as hard as they did against KU, and with the return of Barry Brown and at least a few minutes out of Dean Wade, then the Wildcats should win this game. But it’s just as likely that the struggle throughout and lose, again, in the Round of 64. This is Weberville after all.

Thanks to staggered scheduling, this evenings game is scheduled for a 5:50 p.m. CDT tip-off from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC. The game can be seen on television on TNT, or online via NCAA March Madness Live, with Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Grant Hill (analyst), Bill Raferty (analyst), and Tracy Wolfson (sideline reporter) on the call. Be sure and check out Jon Morse’s full How To Watch post for more details.

The game can be heard over-the-air on the K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) on the call (you can also listen online for free at TuneIn.com or at KStateSports.com). You can also listen to the national broadcast from Westwood One for free on the March Madness Live App or at www.ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive. Satellite radio, with likely the national broadcast, is available on Sirius 137, XM 201, and “Internet” 962.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (22-11, 10-8 Big 12)
G: #2 Cartier Diarra
G: #5 Barry Brown Jr.
G: #20 Xavier Sneed
F: #32 Dean Wade
F: #14 Makol Mawien

Creighton (21-11, 10-8 BIG EAST)
G: #0 Marcus Foster
G: #1 Davion Mintz
G: #2 Khyri Thomas
G: #24 Mitch Ballock
F: #32 Toby Hegner